Mumbai: Ghatkopar man held for duping south Mumbai family of Rs 26 lakh

THE MUMBAI crime branch arrested a Ghatkopar-based man for allegedly cheating a south Mumbai family of Rs 26.50 lakh by creating a fake profile on a matrimonial website. The accused had pretended to be working for a tech giant and claimed to have a flat in south Mumbai to cheat the family.

An officer said that the accused, Nimesh Chautaliya (32), had met the family members of a girl after coming across her profile on a matrimonial website. While the girl was in the US, he met the family and pretended to be very rich. He then told the family that he will be going to the US to meet the girl, an officer said.

The accused then called up the girl in the US and claimed that he had been caught by the US customs for carrying undeclared cash. He then asked the girl that she would have to pay some fees for the custom officials to allow him to go. Under various pretexts, the girl ended up paying Rs 26.50 lakh.

“Her family based in south Mumbai got suspicious and informed us about it. An FIR was registered at Gamdevi police station and we found that Chautaliya actually lived in Ghatkopar and had not left the country in the last five years,” an officer said. The police then arrested him under charges of cheating and sections of the IT Act.